


Tear-stained

by sugarandspace



Series: Whumptober 2019 [14]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Lack of Communication, M/M, Post-Episode: s03e10 Erchomai, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 04:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21030398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarandspace/pseuds/sugarandspace
Summary: Magnus was a tall man, his shoulders wide and muscles well defined. He was a strong man, enough so that he could beat Alec in hand to hand combat.But as Alec stood there, in the doorway to their bedroom, what he saw told a different story.





	Tear-stained

Magnus was a tall man, his shoulders wide and muscles well defined. He was a strong man, enough so that he could beat Alec in hand to hand combat.

But as Alec stood there, in the doorway to their bedroom, what he saw told a different story.

He had told Magnus not to wait up for him, that he would need to stay in the Institute way past dinner time tonight. He’d arrived in the loft quietly, ate some leftovers from the fridge, and was just about to change his clothes and go to bed when the sight he was met with had stopped him in his tracks.

Magnus had left the lamp on Alec’s side of the bed on, something he did so that Alec didn’t need to stumble in the dark or risk waking Magnus up by putting some lights on. It warmed Alec’s heart to know that Magnus was waiting for him to join him in bed, even though he’d fallen asleep. 

In the warm glow of the lamp, Alec could see Magnus in bed, curled on his side. He looked so small like that, only his head peeking from under the covers. The lump lying in their bed didn’t look like the strong man that filled every room he stepped into. 

What broke Alec’s heart even more were the tear tracks on his cheeks. 

Magnus had cried himself to sleep.

Alec knew that Magnus was struggling, that the adjustment to magicless life was harder than he let on. But this kind of vulnerability was something Magnus didn’t want anyone to witness, and it hurt to know that Alec was now counted into that group of people as well.

There was nothing more that he wanted but to be there for Magnus, to be the shoulder to cry on and the hand to hold. All he could do was to make sure that Magnus knew that and to hope that he’d be able to go through the things he felt the need to deal with on his own. 

Alec stepped away from the doorframe and changed his clothes quickly. He got comfortable on his own side of the bed and as his head hit the pillow, his own cheeks were tear-stained as well.

What a picture they made, he thought, lying on their own sides with mirrored streaks on their faces, unable to cross the space between them that felt too big for one person to fix.

**Author's Note:**

> I won't have time to write tomorrow or on wednesday, so I'll probably post the next fic on thursday!


End file.
